Stolen Ale
by Kitarin
Summary: Ted snitches a bottle of ale from the palace's Yuletide Feast to share with his best friend, Tir McDohl.


  
  
"Are you sure it's wise to go out in this weather, Master Teo?"  
  
Tir McDohl shifted his gaze from his father to Cleo, watching as the young woman drew back the drapes to expose the snow laden twilight of Gregminster. The flakes were drifting down from the sky, faster and faster, dusting the grass and beginning to stick to the cobbled streets. Darkness was swiftly overtaking the city, the last glimmer of day already hidden behind gray clouds as thick as molasses.  
  
"Nonsense, Cleo," Teo said with a small wave of his hand. "The weather is not that terrible yet, and my presence is needed at the castle tonight. You know very well the responsibilities of my position, even at something as seemingly trivial as a Yuletide feast."  
  
"Will you be meeting Lady Shulen there?" Cleo remarked innocently, the barest hint of a smile playing at the corners of her mouth, and Teo nodded, his eyes flickering to his son for but a moment.  
  
"All of the generals will be in attendance tonight. I, for one, would rather be home by the fire enjoying Gremio's latest stew and listening to Tir play his reed flute." "I, for one, would _not_," Tir finally spoke up, wrinkling his nose.  
  
Teo laughed softly and reached out to pat his thirteen year old son's shoulder. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to come to the feast, Tir? I am quite sure the Emperor would be glad to have you there."  
  
"Thank you, but no..." Tir replied quickly, feeling his skin crawl at the very idea. "I mean no offense Father, but I can think of better ways to spend an evening other than fending off girls who only want to speak with me and dance with me because I am General Teo's son."  
  
Teo smiled again, shaking his head at Tir, and Pahn spoke up from where he'd been leaning silently against the railing of the staircase. "You should be proud, Master Tir, not embarrassed. And if not for the women, you should at least attend for the food. I have heard rumours that their chefs rival even Gremio's cooking."  
  
"Impossible!" Tir grinned.  
  
"Now don't go inflating my ego, Young Master," Gremio said as he appeared in the doorway just in time to hear the end of their exchange. He held out a white bag to Master Teo with a gentle smile. "Please give these to Lady Shulen, Master Teo. Tea cakes with extra honey baked in, fresh from the oven."  
  
"Thank you, Gremio..." Teo accepted the bag and turned to look at Tir again. "I know that I should not even need to remind you to behave for Gremio while I am away," Teo addressed Tir, "But if Ted comes around tonight, I don't want to the two of you causing Gremio any worry."  
  
"Of course, Father."  
  
"Don't you worry a bit, Master Teo," Gremio assured him, crossing the entry way to open the main door. The wind immediately blew a gust of snowflakes in, and Tir laughed with delight as they caught in the cloaks of both Gremio and his father, shimmering. "Hurry along now, and leave everything to me. You would not want to keep Lady Shulen waiting."  
  
Teo squeezed Tir's shoulder and nodded to Pahn and Cleo, and pulling his cloak a little closer around him, stepped out the door. Gremio smiled, and as Teo disappeared into the blurry landscape, he closed the door, rubbing his hands together and turning to the others. "I would be remiss to not inform you that there are extra cakes waiting for you in the kitchen."  
  
Pahn's face lit up, and he took off for the kitchen immediately with Tir and Cleo right behind him, and the four sat around the table, eating cakes and drinking tea, talking of the coming festivities in the city, until it had gotten quite late.  
  
"My goodness," Gremio suddenly blinked as he noticed the clock on the wall. "All this talk and tea and we've completely lost track of the time. Young Master, you should get to sleep quite soon. Let me clean up this mess, and then I'll be up to tuck you in and turn out the lights."  
  
Pahn yawned and got up from the table quite slowly, and Cleo laughed. "I do believe Pahn is ready for a long winter nap.  
  
"Indeed... I'm going to sit by the fire."  
  
"I shall join you."  
  
They left the room and Tir picked up his empty mug, but Gremio had lifted it out of his hand before he could so much as step towards the sink. "Up to bed, Young Master," he said cheerfully. "Leave all this to me."  
  
Tir nodded, rubbing one eye, and wishing he hadn't eaten that last cake on the table, he headed up to his room. In the dim candlelight, he pulled off his tunic, dropping it on the floor before hurrying into his nightclothes and climbing into the bed. He closed his eyes, already starting to doze off by the time Gremio came in.  
  
"Nearly asleep already?" he teased Tir gently, stopping to pick up the discarded tunic, folding it and laying it across the back of the desk chair before reaching to tuck the heavy woolen blanket more snugly around Tir's shoulders. Tir did not reply, but smiled up at Gremio vaguely, to which Gremio laughed softly and leaned to kiss his forehead. "Sleep well, Young Master, and I shall see you in the morning." He stepped lightly across the room, blowing the candle out as he reached the door, and the last thing Tir heard before he fell asleep was the gentle and familiar swish of the green cloak.  
  
A jarring sound against the window woke Tir from a sound sleep, and rubbing one eye, he sat up, pushing the blankets back and shivering as the cold air hit his body. He listened for a moment to the silence of the night, and was just about to curl up and go back to sleep when the sound came again, even louder this time. Curious and slightly worried, he slipped out of bed and moved quickly to the window, drawing back the drapes to look outside.  
  
It was hard to make out anything in the blur of white, but as a huge mound of snow hit the window, Tir realized with a start that someone had to be throwing it, and that he had a very good idea of who that someone was. Knowing full well that Gremio would be most worried if he knew what was about to happen, Tir took a deep breath and pushed the window open, looking down on the city from the second floor.  
  
"It's about time you rolled out of bed, Tir McDohl!" a voice called brightly from below.  
  
"Ted, are you crazy? What time is it? What are you doing?" He squinted down at the smudge of blue and gold against the white backdrop.  
  
"Get dressed and come out the back door and perhaps I'll tell you!" he called back, giving no room for argument as he immediately trotted around to the back of the house.   
  
Tir pulled the window closed, his teeth chattering, snowflakes drifting to the floor and melting. He reached for his tunic to change quickly, then grabbed his coat, gloves and a scarf from the wardrobe. Being as silent as only a mischievous boy could, he crept down the hallway, down the stairs and out the back door. Ted greeted him with a snowball to the chest, grabbing his hand and pulling him right down into the mess. Tir laughed softly, but immediately put a gloved hand to Ted's face. "Ssh... Let's get away further first, so we won't wake anyone."  
  
"Splendid idea..." Ted replied with a grin, rolling off of Tir and jumping to his feet, offering the younger boy a hand. They ran a house length or two away from the McDohl residence taking refuge between a tree and a snowdrift before Tir finally questioned him.  
  
"Did you really wake me just to throw snowballs? It could have waited until morning..."  
  
"True, but I would have come without the snow."  
  
"What? Why?"   
  
"Come on, better to show than tell."  
  
Tir obliged, allowing Ted to drag him by the hand through the darkened streets, and even through the obscuring whirl of snow, he could tell they had headed in the direction of the castle. The snow lay heavy in the branches of the trees, icing the leafless ones and weighing down the boughs of the evergreens. Even the street lamps barely penetrated the storm, and Tir allowed himself to be captivated by the show that nature seemed to have presented for the two of them alone. They stopped just outside the castle gates, and Ted turned to Tir, smiling warmly. "The castle..." he started as Ted pulled one glove from his hand.  
  
Ted reached up, touching one warm finger to Tir's cold cheek with a laugh. "All the flakes have caught in your eyelashes, Tir...like some princess out a fairy tale."  
  
Tir both blushed and smirked at this comment, noting the white dusting in Ted's own eyelashes and in his sandy colored hair. "If I'm the princess, then you must be the queen, Ted. Or perhaps you'd prefer something more feminine, like Tea or Theresa?"  
  
Ted snickered softly, then pointed at the castle. "The feast!" he proclaimed, throwing his arms open wide.  
  
Tir was baffled. "Obviously...my father is there."  
  
"That is exactly why you're going to stay here. Well, not here, exactly, but out of sight." Peering around the corner of the wall, he again took Tir by the hand, leading him inside and through the edges of the garden, careful to avoid any of the lights streaming out from the castle.  
  
"Are you going to tell me what you're up to?"  
  
"If I do, then I'm sure my morally righteous friend will try to stop me."  
  
"But Ted..."  
  
"Ssh. Just stay here, and I'll be back sooner than you can count one hundred flakes falling from the sky..." He paused, looking upwards, and then amended his statement. "With the way this storm's going, I fear we might have to say two hundred instead."  
  
"But Ted..."  
  
"Stay out of sight! T'would do no good for the general's son to be caught here like this."  
  
"But TED!"  
  
Ted was already racing towards the castle wall, creeping around the side towards the kitchens, and Tir settled himself down in between the bushes where he'd been left with a sigh. Perhaps out of boredom, but more likely from worry, he did indeed turn to counting as many flakes as was possible as they drifted past his face. It was only when he heard the rise and fall of voices that he stopped his mumbled numbers, and pressed himself closer to the shrubbery, peering through what holes there were around him. He bit back a yelp as he realized it was his father and Lady Shulen, and prayed to every god he could think of that he would not be found.  
  
After a few panicked breaths, he finally peered through the bushes again to see his father dusting the snow off a stone bench before the two sat down. He could not make out their words from his position, as they were on the other side of the frozen fountain in the little courtyard of the gardens. He heard a bit of talk, his, and a peel of laughter, hers, and then to his great surprise, he watched as his father leaned close to kiss her softly. They sat there, nose to nose, for a few minutes longer, before rising hand in hand and making their way back to the party inside.  
  
Tir had little time to really ponder what had happened as it seemed like mere moments later that Ted was tugging his sleeve, his expression giddy, and his brown eyes bright. "Come!" he urged, and they slipped out of the castle grounds as surely as they'd entered. They did not return to the McDohl house, but instead Tir found himself led to the outskirts of town, to an old red barn. He helped Ted slide the great wooden door open just far enough for them to slip inside, and was immediately grateful for the warmth of all the animals within. He glanced around, ready to remove his cloak and sit down for a spell, but Ted had other ideas, pointing to a ladder barely visible in the darkness. They climbed into the loft, removing their cloaks and tossing them down into the hay before flopping down on them, both breathing heavily from their run through the city.  
  
"Wait until you see what I've snitched!" Ted finally managed to sputter, pulling a paper sack from beneath his tunic. He slipped a hand in and Tir gaped at the bottle he pulled out.  
  
"Oh, Ted, you shouldn't have..."  
  
"No one saw me, I promise you." He grinned at Tir, elbowing him lightly before showing him the label on the bottle. "Trust me, with all those revelers, they won't miss one bottle of ale...even if it is the finest I've seen in... in a very long time."  
  
Tir peered at Ted curiously for a moment, for he knew very well that his friend was not all that much older than him. "Do you... really drink this stuff?" Ted had jammed a finger into the bottle, shoving the cork right down inside, and Tir wrinkled his nose at the smell.  
  
"Well...once or twice..." Ted fumbled, shifting a bit closer to Tir and offering the bottle to him.  
  
"Ah, not a chance!" Tir exclaimed, pushing it away. "If Gremio didn't have my head for it, I'm sure my father would."  
  
"Perhaps," Ted grinned, running a hand through his wet hair to push it out of his face. "But they are not here, and I will certainly swear to secrecy if you do."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Tir!" Ted wheedled, tilting his head and giving his most pleading look. "I can't drink it all myself! How much have you talked about wanting to be your own person? You've got to live a little!"  
  
Tir shook his head again and laughed, debating with himself. "Mmm... perhaps. But I'm certainly not going first."  
  
"All right, then!" Ted held up the bottle. "What shall we drink to?"  
  
"To..." Tir furrowed his brow, staring into the darkness of the barn. "To...freedom."  
  
Ted nodded thoughtfully for a moment, vaguely surprised by Tir's suggestion, and then he raised the bottle up. "To us, then - to freedom!"  
  
He took a long drink before handing the bottle off to his friend. Tir glanced at the bottle warily and took a tentative sip, nearly gagging on the first mouthful. Ted's laughter encouraged him, though, and the second gulp went down somewhat better than the first. Without saying much, they passed the bottle back and forth until it was more than halfway drained. "I do believe I... I feel rather light," Tir finally commented awhile later. "As if I could float right off this hay and drift up to the ceiling of the barn."  
  
Ted chuckled, reaching over to pat Tir's hand clumsily. "Yes, it brings back memories..."  
  
"Oh?" Tir questioned, rolling to his side to peer at Ted curiously. "You have done this before?"  
  
"More times than I care to recount," Ted finally drank the last of the ale and rolled the large bottle away into the hay. "Nights when I wanted to forget things."  
  
"I see..." Tir started, uncertain of what he meant. "There are things I would like...to forget...and...others I wish I could remember."  
  
"You are far too young to have such regrets, Master McDohl," Ted shook a finger at him as he rolled onto his own side. "You are far too serious, you know..."  
  
"But Ted..." he said softly, perplexed. "How can you say such things after you just told me you...wanted to forget?"  
  
Ted pondered that for a moment, and finally shrugged. "I can't really answer that properly, except to say that... it's much better to spend life trying to enjoy it as best you can. It's too short to get so caught up in any kind of sorrow... What is it you want to change so badly anyway? What is this wish for freedom?" He reached out to a hand to walk his fingers up Tir's arm, toying with the end of his bandana in an almost possessive way. "Well...?"  
  
"I feel ordinary," Tir replied immediately, pillowing his head on one arm. "I hate being treated like... like..."  
  
"A future imperial general?"  
  
"Yes! I... I just want to be myself. I want to read books and learn languages, travel to different lands and meet many people...and...eat a lot of different kinds of food"  
  
"Then why don't you?"  
  
Tir shook his head, wondering how to explain to Ted that it was not that simple. "There are...things that are expected of me, Ted. And I... sometimes I think maybe things would have been different if... if... " He stumbled over the words, half drunkenness, but also half emotional turmoil. "I wonder if life would have been different if my mother had not died."  
  
"Yes..." Ted softly, his eyes drifting closed, and Tir knew that he was remembering someone, somewhere, who was very important to him. "But we cannot change the past."  
  
"I know... I wouldn't want to, really, no, because then... then things might not be how they are now. And there are...plenty of...of... things I like about my life."  
  
"Like...?"  
  
"Like... you. And Cleo and Pahn. And...and Gremio. And maybe I wouldn't have all of you... if... if things were different." When Ted did not answer, Tir continued to ramble, sitting up and hugging his knees to his chest as he often did when he was worried or upset, wrapping his arms around them and rocking back and forth. "I think the very best moments...are...when... when Gremio is making stew, and the whole house...smells...like stew... and Pahn is snoring by the fire... and... and you and I are playing a game of cards by the fire... and... and things are just easy, and simple.... There are... no demands and no...expectations..."  
  
Ted had also rolled to a sitting position, watching Tir with glassy eyes as he spoke and finally he sniffed slightly, rubbing one hand across his face. "Just life and living it with the people you care about, yes?"  
  
Tir nodded, but his expression grew from thoughtful to worried as he gazed at Ted, who suddenly seemed to be much younger than his usual air of stubborn mischievousness implied. "Oh, Ted...I..." Tir stammered, letting go to crawl on hands and knees until their noses were mere inches apart. "I'm...so sorry..." he whispered. "I didn't mean to upset you..."  
  
"I miss my family..." Ted said softly, the tears stinging the corners of his hazel eyes. "Your family has become... like a new family to me, Tir, but it is still not the same."  
  
"Ted... you are... more than family to me," Tir smiled, reaching out to throw his arms around the other. "I...umm..."  
  
Ted wrapped his own arms around Tir, pulling him closer and murmuring. "Tir...my only real friend... you would never leave me, would you?"  
  
"Goodness, Ted..." Tir blinked, drawing back from him. "Of...of course not... I couldn't imagine... if I... ever lost you... or Gremio... or Father... " The very thought tore at him, and before he could help himself, he buried his face in his hands, his own eyes teary. "Is...is drinking this stuff supposed to make you cry?" he sniffled. "Pahn usually laughs a lot when he drinks, and...and... Cleo just gets quiet...and Gremio...well, he... I never really see him drink....and...I..."  
  
"No, no..." Ted shook his head, now feeling bad that he'd upset Tir in turn. "Please don't cry, Tir...I... I never know what to do when...when people cry..." He frowned, tugging at Tir's bandana playfully in an effort to get him to lift his head.  
  
"I...I'm...sorry..." Tir hiccoughed, lifting his tear-stained face with a half smile. "I'm... not even sure why I am... I... can't seem to stop..."  
  
Ted sighed, something deep in the recesses of his mind stirring, and he pulled Tir close again, into his arms. "I shouldn't have talked you into drinking that stuff. I am sorry..." Tir said nothing, only hiccoughed again, closing his eyes. Ted looked down at him, feeling very old and very young all at once, and he leaned to kiss Tir's forehead, his cheek, whispering to him soothingly. Tir whimpered even at the reassurances, and as Ted moved to kiss his other cheek, he hesitated for a moment, instead pressing his lips against Tir's gently.  
  
Tir's eyes shot open in surprise, as he'd never found himself in this position with anyone before. Perhaps it was the warmth of familiar arms around him, or the blur caused by the ale, but he didn't pull away from the gesture.  
  
It was only momentary, and then Ted was backing away, almost heaving Tir out of his arms and shaking his head with mumbled apologies. "Tir...Master McDohl...I'm... so sorry...."  
  
Tir reached out a hand to grab Ted's own even as he was being shoved rather roughly away. "No, Ted, wait, I..."  
  
Ted looked up from having bowed his head in embarrassment, perplexed. "Y...yes?"  
  
Tir leaned forward, warm brown eyes alight with curiosity and... something else indiscernible. "Would you...do that again?"  
  
Ted stared at him incredulously for a moment, his expression frozen somewhere between a yelp and a laugh, and then he leaned forward, kissing Tir with much less hesitation than before. Tir, for all his inexperience, laughed mirthfully into the kiss, winding his arms around Ted's neck and sending them tumbling into the hay again.  
  
Tir was the first of the two to awake several hours later as the first brushes of dawn light were creeping in through cracks in the wood. It took him several minutes to remember why he was laying tangled in the hay with his best friend, and as soon as he did, his face coloured. "Ted..." he whispered, nudging his friend.  
  
"Mmm...and oatmeal, too..." Ted mumbled, still asleep.  
  
"Ted! Wake up! It's morning! We've got to get home!" He shook his friend roughly, almost panicked, and then started to climb down the ladder, his head spinning from the night before. "If Gremio discovers I'm gone, he'll be absolutely sick with worry!"  
  
Sitting up and rubbing at one eye, Ted glanced around for a moment until he too remembered the events of the night before. His eyes caught Tir's for a moment, but there was no time for discussion, apology, confusion or anything aside from racing back to the McDohl household as quickly as their feet could carry them.  
  
Even as they approached, Tir could see Gremio standing in the doorway of their house in his familiar green cloak, peering out in the streets. The snow had stopped, and underneath the bright and rising sun, the entire city was glittering in a sea of white.  
  
"Oh, for g...goodness' sake, Young Master!" Gremio called out as he saw the two of them approach. "I was really starting to worry! Where have you been?"  
  
Tir stared at Gremio as they waded through the snow to the door, so lost in processing what had happened that he had no idea how to begin to answer.  
  
"It's my fault, Gremio," Ted announced as he came up behind Tir with his usual disarming grin. "I dragged him out of bed at first light to explore the snow, and we didn't want to wake you."  
  
"Well, I wish you had..." Gremio murmured softly, reaching out a hand to grab Tir's arm and tug him closer. "Young Master, you're not even dressed properly for this weather! W...what if you've gone and caught yourself a chill?"  
  
The effects of the stolen ale were really starting to sit hard with Tir after running halfway across the city, and he gave Gremio a sincerely green look. "You may be right, Gremio... I don't feel so well."  
  
"Oh my..." Gremio shook his head, the wind tossing his long ponytail into his face. "Well, come inside now, both of you... I'll wrap you up in blankets beside the fire and you'll be warm in no time at all..."  
  
As they stepped inside and Gremio pulled the door shut behind them, Tir inhaled deeply. "Gremio...is that..._stew_ I smell?"  
  
"Why, yes it is," Gremio smiled as he pulled the wet cloak from Tir's shoulders. "Would you like to stay for dinner later, Ted?"  
  
Ted nodded enthusiastically, and as Gremio turned to hang both boy's cloaks on pegs by the door, he winked at Tir. "Oh, thank you very much, Gremio!"  
  
Gremio laughed softly and ushered them into the living room, where Pahn was already snoring beside the fire and Cleo was reading a book in the chair beside him. Tir looked around the room with a beaming smile as Gremio started to wrap thick blankets around them, and then dove forward to wrap his arms around Gremio's waist, nearly sending them tumbling into Pahn's chair. "What is this all about, Young Master?" Gremio laughed again, hugging him.  
  
"Nothing, really..." Tir replied as he settled on the floor beside Pahn's feet. "I am just happy..."  
  
"I am glad to hear that... be _warm_ as well, and I will be happy too. Let me get some cocoa." He smiled down at the boy again before hurrying off to the kitchen, and Ted laughed softly.  
  
The commotion had woken Pahn, and he opened one eye sleepily, peering down at Tir as Cleo looked up from her book. "...is that ale I smell?"  
  



End file.
